public web page · 3 sections indexed

Stabi History timeline

Text capture of a public stabicraft.com page. The link opens the live original. Captured 18 August 2026. Nothing here came from a Stabicraft system.

Section 1

1987 to 1997: the Ally Duck, the first dealer and the first exports

The Stabi History timeline dates the beginning of the company to 1987, when Paul Adams and Bruce Dickens built the first rigid hulled aluminium chambered boat in a backstreet workshop in Invercargill, New Zealand: a Stabicraft 3.5 dinghy called the Ally Duck. The page states that Stabicraft opened operations at 345 Bluff Highway, Invercargill, and has remained there ever since. The Powerboat Centre in Christchurch became the first dealer in 1988, the year boats were first exported to British Columbia. Thanetcraft Aluminium Boats was licensed to build under the name in the United Kingdom in 1992, exports reached the USA and Australia in 1994, and the Generation II pontoon launched in 1997.

Section 2

2001 to 2006: capacity upgrades, flotation standards and an export award

The timeline records a 2001 factory upgrade that doubled manufacturing capacity, raising it to 500 boats a year, and the adoption of the CPC compliance plate that year. Staff numbers reached 50 in 2003, the year Stabicraft achieved Workplace Safety Management Practice primary level and built the 14 metre Delphienidae for Dolphin Encounter Kaikoura, its largest boat to that point. In 2004 it became the first manufacturer to sign up to the Australian Builders Plate level flotation standards. A $1 million building upgrade in 2005 expanded production capacity to 1000 boats per year, and 2006 brought Exporter of the Year at the Southland Chamber of Commerce Export Forum.

Section 3

2007 to 2025: honours, chief executive succession, Port Angeles and 49 dealerships

Managing director Paul Adams was named a member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to business in 2007, and the timeline records his Hall of Fame induction in 2019. In 2020 Adams stepped back and passed chief executive duties to David Glen, and Aaron Greene was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2023. The 2250 Ultracab WT won a Best of the Best Red Dot Award in 2021 and is described as the most awarded model in Stabicraft history. In 2022 the company established a manufacturing operation in Port Angeles, Washington State, USA. By 2025 the dealership network consists of 49 Dealerships around the globe.